Russia Announces Successful Trial of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Weapon

The nation has evaluated the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the state's top military official.

"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the commander reported to the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying experimental weapon, originally disclosed in 2018, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to avoid anti-missile technology.

International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been carried out in 2023, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had partial success since 2016, according to an arms control campaign group.

The general stated the missile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the test on the specified date.

He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were found to be meeting requirements, as per a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it demonstrated advanced abilities to evade defensive networks," the news agency reported the general as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute observed the corresponding time, the nation encounters significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the nation's arsenal arguably hinges not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the consistent operation of the atomic power system," specialists noted.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and an incident leading to several deaths."

A military journal quoted in the study claims the weapon has a range of between a substantial span, permitting "the weapon to be based across the country and still be capable to strike objectives in the United States mainland."

The same journal also says the missile can travel as low as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, causing complexity for defensive networks to engage.

The projectile, code-named an operational name by a foreign security organization, is believed to be driven by a reactor system, which is intended to activate after initial propulsion units have launched it into the air.

An investigation by a media outlet last year located a site a considerable distance from the city as the possible firing point of the missile.

Employing satellite imagery from last summer, an analyst told the service he had observed nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the location.

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